Overnight cycle for horizontal axis clothes washer

ABSTRACT

A method and modified clothes washer provides for an overnight dry cycle. A standard washer is modified to draw air from external to the housing, direct the air into the tumbling drum, and remove the air with a blower to exhaust from the housing during an extended drying period overnight. By selecting this option, the consumer need not move the clothes from the washer to the dryer.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to a clothes washer, and more particularly to ahorizontal axis clothes washer that is also intended to dry a load oflaundry in the washer. The drying cycle within the washer is aselectable feature by the consumer.

Combination units are already available in the marketplace. These typesof units are intended to serve as both the primary clothes washer andprimary clothes dryer in a single unit. These units are relativelyexpensive and slow. They are slow because the primary use of these unitsis to do both the washing and the drying function.

In certain instances, a consumer desires that a load of clothes bewashed and also dried for the morning. If the load of clothes or laundryto be washed and dried for the morning is not started until late, theconsumer would like to avoid staying up to transfer the load from thewasher into the dryer before going to bed for the evening Likewise, theconsumer would like to have the clothes ready for work in the morningwithout having to get up any earlier in order to transfer the load fromthe washer to the dryer, and still leave sufficient time for the laundryto dry in a standard drying cycle.

Accordingly, a need exists for an overnight cycle for a washer that isintended to give the consumer a convenience option and without having toadd undue expense to the washer.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An optional overnight drying cycle that allows a consumer to dry thelaundry without having to transfer to a separate machine during anextended overnight drying cycle.

A clothes washer includes a housing having a drum received in thehousing for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis. The drumreceives a load of laundry, and a controller includes a drying modeselection for providing subsequent drying in the drum after a wash cyclehas been completed. A blower for introducing air from an outside sourceinto the drum and directing air from the drum to the outside source isincluded.

The extended drying mode may have an operative drying period on theorder of three (3) or more hours, and at a minimum, approximately two(2) hours.

The controller includes an operator interface for selecting anassociated size of the laundry wherein the extended drying modeselection is available for small and medium loads only.

The clothes washer further includes a memory providing a predeterminedtime for the drying cycle responsive to information selected in theoperator interface relating to the approximate number of garments. Theclothes washer provides for a delayed starting of the washing and dryingcycles whereby the drying cycle will occur in the same drum as thewashing cycle without having to transfer the laundry load.

In one preferred arrangement, the clothes washer does not use a separateheater for drying.

In a preferred arrangement, the load of laundry is dried by tumbling thelaundry through drum rotation and introducing a stream of air during thetumbling.

A blower is operated during a latter portion of the wash cycle in orderto dry an interior of the drum.

The drying air path communicates with a drive motor of the drum so thatheat is transferred from the drive motor to the air passing through thedrum.

A preferred method of washing and drying laundry in a single apparatusincludes a drum that rotates about a substantially horizontal axis. Themethod includes washing the laundry in the apparatus, drying the laundryin the same apparatus without removing the laundry from the drum, andwhere the drying step includes directing air from outside the apparatusinto the drum and tumbling the laundry while the air is directed intothe drum.

In one arrangement the drying step does not employ a separate heater.

In a preferred arrangement the drying step includes passing air fromoutside the apparatus adjacent a drum motor prior to introduction intothe drum.

In a preferred arrangement, the air is not recirculated in the dryingstep.

The drying step is only available if the laundry is a small or mediumload selection.

In another embodiment, an input requires a selection of an approximatenumber of laundry items in the load, and may further include a delay tothe start of at least one of the washing and drying steps so that thelaundry is completed in an overnight time period.

A primary benefit is the ability to efficiently and inexpensively wash alaundry load and dry the same load in the same apparatus.

Another benefit resides in the ability to at least dry the laundry loadovernight without having to transfer the load from washer into aseparate dryer.

Still another advantage is the limited modification needed to anexisting washer in order to provide for the overnight drying capability.

Still other features and benefits of the present disclosure will becomemore apparent from reading and understanding the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front-load washing machine withselected portions removed to illustrate and overnight dry sub-system.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the system, again with selected portionsremoved for ease of illustration.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inlet and outlet ducting addedto the drum.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the inlet ducting particularlyillustrating the airflow path from outside of the housing to the drum.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the outlet ducting particularlyillustrating an airflow path from the drum and through the exhaustblower to outside of the apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning initially to FIGS. 1-3, the washer 100 has a housing 102 thatreceives a drum 104 adapted for selective rotation relative to thehousing. The drum has an access opening 106 that is selectively closedby a door (not shown) and the opening leads to an interior drum cavity108 dimensioned to receive a load of laundry therein. The drum includestumbling or beater bars 120 preferably at spaced locations along aninner surface of the drum so that as the drum rotates, the laundryundergoes a tumbling action to facilitate washing and also drying. Asperhaps best seen in FIG. 2, the washer is referred to as a horizontalaxis clothes washer where in point of fact, the rotational axis may notbe exactly horizontal but is substantially horizontal as is known in theart. The drum is rotated by a motor (not shown) along a drive access 122(FIG. 2). The introduction of water, detergent, and control of themovement of the drum during prewash, wash, rinse, spin cycles, etc. areall generally well-known in the art and controlled by a controllerschematically represented by box 130 in FIG. 1. In addition, aninterface or control panel has been removed for ease of illustration.The control panel serves as a user interface to allow the consumer topick the type of wash that the laundry will undergo, again, in a mannergenerally well-known in the art so that further discussion herein isdeemed unnecessary.

An overnight dry sub-system 200 is added to a standard front-loadwashing machine. The overnight dry sub-system 200 includes inlet ducting210 that is shown in FIGS. 1-3 and more particularly illustrated in FIG.4. The inlet ducting 210 includes an opening 212 extending through thehousing, preferably through a rear surface thereof, that allows air fromoutside the housing to be drawn into the washing machine forintroduction into the drum during the overnight dry cycle. If needed, ablower 214 (FIGS. 1-3) may be added to enhance movement of air fromoutside of the washer housing and into the drum. It is also contemplatedthat the inlet duct may be extended to pass in proximity or adjacent tothe drive motor in order to pick up some latent heat through a heatexchange before introduction into the drum. Otherwise, it is intendedthat the air received from outside of the housing need not besubsequently heated before being introduced into the drum.

Outlet ducting 230 receives the air at a location spaced from the inletduct. For example, the inlet is shown as introducing air along a readregion of the drum while the outlet duct 230 receives air from theperimeter of the drum adjacent the front opening 106. The duct 230 leadsto a blower such as centrifugal blower 232 that enhances movement of thedrying air through the drum while the drum is rotated. As will beappreciated, during the overnight dry cycle, the drum is rotated by themotor to institute a tumbling action on the clothes or other laundryitems. The air is received from outside the housing, directed throughthe drum, and then directed outwardly through the outlet ducting whereit is reintroduced to a location outside of the housing. It is notintended that the air be re-circulated, but rather that a continuousthrough-path of air be established through the drum.

It is also contemplated that at the end of the wash cycle, air will beintroduced through the overnight dry sub-system, and more particularlythrough the inlet duct work 210 in order to dry the inner surface of thedrum.

In this modified washer, the washing time is relatively standard andthus operates in the same manner for the same time period. The dryingtime, however, is at least two to three times longer, and may be up toseven (7) hours for the drying cycle to be complete. This isparticularly true when no heating element is used, rather just a blowerand since no air is re-circulated. It is also intended for use withsmall to medium loads of laundry. For example, socks and a few shirtswould entail a much shorter drying time if only a few garments arewashed and in the drum for the overnight dry cycle. One option is tohave the consumer input the approximate number of garments that arebeing dried. Presets will select the load types, whether they be cotton,synthetic, etc. and the additional selection of the approximate numberof garments will allow these inputs to be compared with memory data todetermine the approximate length of time for an overnight dryingoperation to be effective. If chosen by the consumer, the wash cyclewould be completed in the typical fashion and then the clothes tumbledried within the washer over an extended period of time. Although thiscould be termed a combination washer-dryer unit, the intent here is tobe wash only with this washer and only occasionally dry small to mediumsize loads when the overnight dry feature is selected. This satisfiesthe consumer's desire to have a load of clothes washed and dried for themorning by selecting the overnight dry cycle, and avoid having to stayup to transfer the load from the washer to the dryer before going to bedat night or to avoid having to awaken early in order to transfer theload from the washer to the dryer and complete the dry cycle early inthe morning. The overnight cycle is deemed to be a selectable featureintended to give the consumer a convenience option. The unit is notintended to be the sole washing and drying unit in the home, but ratherthe washer only. Again, when the consumer has a small to medium loadthat is required to be done in the morning, this option would enable theconsumer to use a slow, extended dry process with the washer toaccomplish this drying task with a minimal design change made to astandard horizontal axis washer design. Adding a forced airflow acrossthe clothes during a tumbling cycle as an overnight dry cycle will drythem in a relatively slow method, but create the opportunity forconsumers to avoid having to transfer the clothes from the washer to thedryer to complete the laundry process.

The disclosure has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur toothers upon reading and understanding the preceding detaileddescription. It is intended that the disclosure be construed asincluding all such modifications and alterations.

1. A clothes washer comprising: a housing; a drum rotatably received inthe housing for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis andhaving a cavity dimensioned to receive an associated load of laundry;and a controller for selecting an operational cycle of the apparatus,the controller including an extended drying mode selection for providinga subsequent drying cycle in the drum after a wash cycle has beencompleted and including a blower for introducing air from an outsidesource into the drum and directing air from the drum to the outsidesource, the extended drying mode having an operative drying period onthe order of a minimum of two hours.
 2. The clothes washer of claim 1wherein the controller includes an operator interface for selecting theassociated size of the laundry load, wherein the extended drying modeselection is available for small and medium loads only.
 3. The clotheswasher of claim 2 further comprising a memory for providing apredetermined time for the drying cycle responsive to informationselected in the operator interface.
 4. The clothes washer of claim 1wherein the controller provides for a delayed start to the washing anddrying cycles, whereby the drying cycle will occur in the same drum asthe washing cycle without having to transfer the laundry load.
 5. Theclothes washer of claim 1 wherein no heater is used for the drying airintroduced into the drum.
 6. The clothes washer of claim 5 wherein theload of laundry is dried by tumbling the laundry through drum rotationand introducing a stream of air during the tumbling.
 7. The clotheswasher apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an operator interface andmemory operatively associated therewith for allowing selection of thesize of the clothes load and retrieval of a drying time from the memoryin response to the selected size of the load of clothes.
 8. The clotheswasher of claim 1 wherein the blower is adapted to supply air flow tothe drum cavity after the washing cycle and during at least periods ofdrum rotation.
 9. The clothes washer of claim 1 wherein the drying cycleis up to seven hours long.
 10. The clothes washer of claim 1 wherein theblower is operative during a latter portion of the wash cycle in orderto dry an interior of the drum.
 11. The clothes washer of claim 1wherein the blower communicates with a drive motor of the drum so thatheat is transferred from the drive motor to the air passing through thedrum.
 12. A method of washing and drying laundry in a single apparatusthat includes a drum that rotates about a substantially horizontal axis,the method comprising: washing the laundry in the apparatus; and dryingthe laundry in the apparatus without removing the laundry from the drumand wherein the drying step includes directing air from outside theapparatus into the drum, and tumbling the laundry while the air isdirected into the drum.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the dryingstep does not employ a separate heater.
 14. The method of claim 12wherein the drying step includes passing the air from outside theapparatus adjacent a drive motor prior to introduction into the drum.15. The method of claim 12 wherein the air is not recirculated in thedrying step.
 16. The method of claim 12 wherein the drying step is onlyavailable if the laundry load is a small or medium load selection. 17.The method of claim 12 wherein the drying step includes retaining thelaundry in the drum up to seven hours after the washing step iscomplete.
 18. The method of claim 12 further comprising an input thatrequires selection of an approximate number of laundry items in theload.
 19. The method of claim 12 further comprising delaying a start ofat least one of the washing and drying steps of that the laundry iscompleted in an overnight time period.